From an article by B.C. Kowalski in the Stevens Point Journal:
As visitors from Stevens Point’s Russian sister city, Rostov Veliky, leave today, they’ll take with them a message of environmentalism.
That was the focus of a weeklong stay for Rostov Veliky Mayor Yuri Aleksandrovitch Boiko and four others as they traveled through Stevens Point.
Boiko said Stevens Point could serve as a good example of environmental consciousness for Rostov Veliky.
“The one thing that is really unique is the way Stevens Point residents respect nature, the way they relate to the environment,” Boiko said through an interpreter. “What is really cool is that everyone seems to care about nature, from the young and old.”
The Rostov Veliky delegation met with various groups related to the environment, including Trout Unlimited, a number of farms, a lake management roundtable and a watershed group from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Boiko said he will take a number of environmental ideas back to Rostov Veliky. Of the 14 he listed in his journal, Boiko mentioned installing a solar panel at Liberty Park, buying an electric car for Rostov Veliky’s stadium and creating an environmental youth group that would focus on Nero Lake.